Mubarak says solving Palestine issue more important than Iraq war

Published October 16th, 2002 - 03:00 GMT

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak emphasized on Tuesday that solving the Palestine issue is key to the settlement of regional issues.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak emphasized on Tuesday that solving the Palestine issue is key to the settlement of regional issues. "The right way for solving Mideast issues is to make progress in the Palestine problem," Mubarak told reporters after his talks with visiting Romanian President Ion Iliescu.

"The talk that striking Iraq would appease or intimidate the Arab world is wrong and serious," he added. Mubarak also warned against ignoring the Palestine issue by focussing current international efforts on other issues in the region.

"Ignoring the Palestine cause and concentrating on the Iraqi crisis will further complicate the two matters," the Egyptian leader aired. "If we are looking for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, we should as well look for them in Israel, because they also threaten the region and there must be justice in this respect," he said.

"There must be a turn for Israel as far as weapons of mass destruction are concerned," he said, adding Egypt is against existence of weapons of mass destruction in the region. (Albawaba.com)